As the excitement of 2016 starts to fade away and the daily grind starts to sink back in, take a moment to think about how is your team doing.

Do they need a little inspiration back in their day-to-day?

So many times, all people need is to feel cared about to get that little pop of inspiration back.

Take a couple of minutes to think of one question you can ask each member of your team to communicate that you care about them. Think about something that you’ve seen them do recently or you know is important to them.

Here are a couple examples to get those juices flowing:

I heard you mention you were going to the game, what was the most exciting part?

I noticed you have been really busy lately. Tell me about one accomplishment you’re really proud of?

Back for part two of what to do with your one objective to complete in the first half of 2016?

If you’ve got no idea what were talking about, check out last week’s post here!

So, now that you know what you want to do this year and why it matters, let’s think a little bit about HOW to do it.

This part is where so many of us start out strong – and then taper out as our workload continues to get crazier and crazier.

Maybe you’ve decided that you really want to drive your team in working better together, or focusing on developing the skills you know you need for that promotion, or that you want your team to completely knock the new product they are designing out of the park- whatever you’ve decided on, we’re excited for you!

Now what? Start creating action!

Step 1: Identify and document what success looks like.

Some things to consider here are:

Why do you want this to happen?

What change are you hoping to see

What could be different if this was accomplished? Why does that make a difference?

Great! Now that you know what you are specifically moving towards, let’s keep the progress going.

Step 2: Think about 5 actual actions that you could do to create an environment where this is more possible.

Maybe this is partnering your people together on the next project or having a “coffee hour” or “happy hour” before or after work for your team to build relationships together.

Now that you’ve got your 5 things that you are going to do… schedule them! Yes, right now.

Get each of those items on the books. This will keep you focused on these items over the next couple of months.

You’ve already got the time planned out, now you’ve just got to stick to your guns and make it happen!

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Last week was nice, right? Surprisingly, your calendar wasn’t so crazy that you were grabbing lunch as you were running into your next meeting.

But next week, you don’t even know how you’ll have time even make a pit stop to the bathroom… work is back in FULL swing!

So many times we start out January with high hopes of what will be different this year.

But then, that project that you had hanging around from December needs to be completed and you are caught between people leaving your team and onboarding the new hires – slowly those hopes of what you or your team wanted to accomplish slowly start to get pushed down on the priority list as the “fires” take all of your energy.

MAKE. THIS. YEAR. DIFFERENT.

How?

Step 1. Take out your calendar and block off one hour next week and one hour for the following week.

Make sure that this is time that you will really be able to spending THINKING.

And, don’t schedule over it.

Step 2. During the time you scheduled next week, think about ONE objective for either you or your team to accomplish in the next 6 months.

This could be something along the lines of driving your team to work better together or focusing on developing the skills you know you need for that promotion.

Step 3. Define (and document!) what the objective is

Step 4. Write out the ‘why’ behind it – why does this objective matter?

The why will really be your driving source of momentum.

GREAT! You’ve got what you want to do and why it matters. Next week we’ll talk about some strategies as to how to make that happen!

I know they call the past couple of weeks a “holiday” but with all the work you had to cram in, in less business days, mixed with all the extra meals, celebrations, and times blocked off your calendar for family and friends, I think we got less sleep than we normally do!

This time of year, it feels like all the things you pushed off are now popping back up on your calendar in full swing.

How do you jump back in and not feel crazy overwhelmed by it all?

First, start SMALL.

At the beginning of each day, take a couple of minutes to highlight the one or two or three things that you HAVE to accomplish that day. Setting priorities for yourself helps you stay focused even when those fires start to roll.

Next, set your sights on THE END.

Things will not always be this crazy. The project or program will end. The meetings will die down. The demands will become manageable again. Take out your calendar and look at when that starts to happen.

Two or three weeks out? GREAT! You can make it through anything if you know how long it will last!

Also, DON’T FORGET about you.

Each week decide on one thing you will do to refresh yourself. Schedule it in and don’t let anything take its place. You need those couple of minutes of YOU TIME to accomplish everything you want to.